Eldercare in Japan, transnational care labor, and emerging welfare regimes

Abstract

Purpose

This article analyzes recent Japanese efforts to recruit care labor from seven Asian countries to identify the relative contributions to migrants and their respective countries' health systems. Besides considering the factors affecting migration from, and benefits to, sending countries, it asks how differences in the role of public and private actors may matter.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses two stages of analysis. The first uses quantitative and qualitative data for seven countries that send care labor migrants to Japan to identify differences in benefits for individual migrants and health care systems in the sending countries. The second stage examines recent initiatives for funding care worker training in Japan to assess the relative impacts of different public-private cooperative arrangements, especially in terms of Vietnam.

Findings

In addition to general migration policy mechanisms provided by the destination country, bilateral relationships and foreign assistance, along with economic, demographic and health care conditions in the origin countries, contribute to the relative benefits of migration. Among countries supplying care labor to Japan, Vietnam is obtaining the most benefits for its health care system in return.

Originality/value

Responding to central concerns surrounding care labor migration, the article compares across countries sending care workers to a single country. The comparison highlights a constellation of factors that contribute the greatest benefits. The article identifies how different types of public and private relationships can influence this process. The study provides observations applicable to other welfare states developing care labor migration relationships.

Citation

Milly, D.J. (2022), "Eldercare in Japan, transnational care labor, and emerging welfare regimes", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 42 No. 1/2, pp. 141-158. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-10-2020-0485